Process for making oil gas



Feb. 6, 1934. c. RosIER PROCESS FOR MAKING OIL GAS Filed May 26, 1926 INVENTOR '9 ATT RNEY R HU Patented Felte, 1934 1,945,790

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE raocnss Foa Mame on. Gas

Charles Rosier, New York. N. Y. Appucauon May ze. 192s. serial No. 111,675

z claims. (c1. 423-212) This invention relates to an art or process for Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational Sectional producing highly combustible gaseous fuel from view of the improved apparatus shown applied hydrocarbon oils and steam or air for use in into a furnace wall. l ternal combustion engines, steam boilers, tem- Referring in detail to the drawing, denotes pering furnaces, and the like. a fragmentary portion of any form of gaseous One object of the invention is the provision of fuel consuming means, such as an internal coman improved process of the character described bustion engine havlnganintake pipe 10a to which for converting fluids such as liquid fuels, and is attached the improved oil gasifying device 11.

steam or air into a highly combustible oil gas. The device 1l as seen from Fig. 2 comprises Another object of the invention is the provision a mixing, atomizingand dispensing portion 13 65 of an improved process of the character described connected' to the pipe 10a and an oil gasifying for volatilizing a liquid fuel and separately preand fuel constituent preheating portion 14 disheating the fuel constituents whereby they may posed therebelow, the inlet end of the portion be readily combined to form a highly combustible 13 communicating with a portion 14 through a 3l gaseous product. l passage 15. 70

Another object of the invention is to provide The portion 14 comprises a tubular member an improved process of the character described 16 having an inner chamber divided by a central which is easily and simply carried out to supply tubular baille 19 into two compartments 17- and `gas consumers, operating under various condi- 18 of semiannular cross-sectional shape, said tions and loads, with a highly combustible gasbaille having outwardly extending partition poreous fuel. -l tions 19a. the baille and partition portions being A further object of the invention is to pro disposed to extend longitudinally through said vide in an improved process of the character demember 16 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The lower scribed, no'vel means having a catalytic action .compartment 17 is adapted to receive liquid fuel, fOr gasifying hydroarbon fuel oil, which is eiecsuch 'as a hydrocarbon oil at the front end 20 80 tive to substantially eliminate carbon or other thereof through nipple 21 which connects with distillate residues. the outlet side of a liiluid fuel control valve 22.

Other objects of this invention will in part be The inlet side of said valve 22 receives fuel prefobvious and in part hereinafter pointed out. erably under pressure through a pipe 25 supplied Certain features herein Shown and described. by a suitable feed pump 23 from a. fuel storage ss are shown, described and claimed in my co-pendtank 24. The valve 22 is operated in the well ing aplllitiOn Serial N0. 585,337 flied August 31, understood manner by rotating the valve stem 1922 and accordingly are not claimed herein. 22a. ASuitable means, such as a discharge pipe,

With the above exception. the invention ac- 26 for draining the lower 'compartment 17 into cordingly consists in the features of constructhe tank 24 is provided, said means being op- 90 tion, combinations of elements and arrangement erated by a suitable valve or cock 28. of parts which will be exemplified in the construc- In the lower compartment 17, the liquid fuel tion hereinafter described and of which the scope supplied thereto is adapted' to be vaporized, of application will be indicated in the following -initially expanded and subjected to the catalytic l claims. action in the manner as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing,v in which is 'I'he upper compartment 18 which communicates shown one of the various possible illustrative with the lower compartment 17 vthrough the pasembodiments 0f this invention. sages 19h serves to gasify and preheat the va- Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic viewinelevation of a -porized expanded fuel and is provided at its system for supplying gaseous fuel to an internal upper front end 18a with the upwardly extend- 100 combustion engine embodying the invention. ing passage 15 for leading the oil gas into the s Fig. 2 is an elevational viewin vertical section inlet side of a control and mixingvalve 29 from of the improved oil gasifying apparatus shown in which they emerge through an aperture 30 into Fig. 1, portions thereof being broken away to exa mixing chamber 3l. The valve 29 controls posethe interior construction; I the flow of the oil gas inthe usual manner Fig. 2a is a fragmentary cross-sectional, elethrough rotation of the valve stem 29a. To form vational view showing a modified construction of a more efficient gaseous fuel and for conditionthe fuel gasifying apparatus, ing the oil gas generated in the portions 14, suit- Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on lines able amounts of a gaseous fuel constituent or 3--3 in Fig. 2; and medium, such as steam orl compressed air are 11d supplied through a pipe 32 into an annular passage 29h formed in said valve 29, said passage having openings 29o through which the steam or air is injected into the chamber 31 so that an intimate mixture of the gasifled oil and steam or air is obtained. Where compressed air is used as the medium, an installation as shown in Fig. 1 may be employed. Here the air is supplied by a suitable. compressor 33 to a supply tank 34, hence through a pipe 35 to an inlet 36a adjacent the rear end of a 4jacket 36 which surrounds the chamber compartments 17 and 18 in portion 14 as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. For controlling the flow of air through the jacket 36, a valve 37 is installed in the pipe line 35, the front or outlet 36h of the jacket being connected directly with the pipe 32 for supplying air to the valve 29.

For preheating and gasifying the fuel constituents passing through the portion 14 and chamber 36, any suitable heat source may be v provided, preferably, as here shown, an electrically operated heater 40. Said heater is constructed to t into a longitudinally extending pocket 14a in portion 14 forheating the inner jacket wall 36e and the walls 17a, 17b, and 18a, 18b of the chamber compartment 17 and 18. The jacket Wall 36e is spaced from thewall 17a and 18a to permit the extension therethrough'of a y plurality of heat resistant elements 41 of heater 40. Said elements are supported at each end by a suitable terminal member 42 which is mounted on an insulating base 43, the latter forming a closure for the pocket 14a, as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. `Suitable binding posts 44 may be provided to extend through said base for connecting said heater elements 41 in series with a suitable control rheostat` 45 across a suitable electric power source (not shown) through conductor Wires 46.

It is clear from the drawing that the heater 40 when connected to the electric power source is effective to supply the initial heat to the gasifying apparatusll for raising it to the required temperature to gasify and preheat the fuel constituents. 'Ihe heater 40 may be operated to positively control the temperatures to which the liquid and vaporized oil in compartments 17 and 18 are subjected during the gasifying and pre'- heating process simultaneously with the preheating of the air in the jacket 36 simply by adjusting the rheostat 45 to regulate the power supply.

One dominant feature of the invention resides in the provision lof the baille 19 which may be made of any ,sf 'table material having catalytic properties when heated, such as nickel, platinum, palladium, copper, brass or other like substances. As shown in Fig. 2, the baille 19 is in the form of a cylindrical tubular structure, one end thereof abutting the front wall 14h of the portion 14- and the other end thereof being supported by the rear end wall 16a of the tubular member 16. The rear end of the axial passage 19c extending through the baille communicates with the pocket 14a adjacent said wall 16a thereby providing a relatively large heating surfacel for the baille exposed to heat from the heater -40 whereby the catalytic effectivenessof said baille is greatly increased.

In Fig. 2a is shown a modified form of the invention in which a vsupplementary electric heater 140 having terminal post 144 is provided, said posts being preferably connected in series with a rheostat 145 to a suitable power source (not shown) by conductor wires 146. Said her extends through the rear end wall 14o of the portion 14 and into the axial passage 19e of the baille 19 for independently controlling the temperature and the catalyzing effect of said baille.

The normal operation of the equipment above described is as follows: Liquid fuel is fed under pressure through the valve 22 into the gasifying apparatus 11 where it is vaporized, expanded and subjected to catalytic action in the compartment 17, the gases therefrom being preheated further expanded and catalyzed in the compartment 18. The heated gasied fuel passes from the compartment 18 through the passage 15 and the valve 29 into the chamber 31 where they are intimately mixed with the heated compressed air coming through the pipe 32 from the jacket 36, prior to passing through distributing passages 39a of an elongated nozzle 39 which extends into the intake pipe 10a as shown in Fig. 2.

The equipment described above may have a tendency to operate irregularlyespecially under fluctuating load of the fuel consumer. This undesirable tendency is apparently due to the building up of a back pressure during the vaporization and expansion of the liquid fuel in compartments 17 greater than the normal pressure of the liquid fuel being fed by the pump 23. To overcome this undesirable tendency, a device R for automaticallyregulating the feeding of the liquid fuel is provided. Said device may be inserted in any convenient location in the feed pipe line 25, or as shown in Fig. 2 may be incorporated to form a part of the valve 22. Said device R is seen to include a vertically slidable member having a valve disc 61 mounted on its upper end thereof, said disc being adapted to raise against a seat 62 for shutting off the back flow of the liquid fuel due to any sudden fluctuation of load or for any other cause which is effective to increase the pressure of the gas in the compartment 17 above the feeding pressure of the liquid in the pipe 25. Normally, the disc 62 is in the position shown in Fig. 2 which permits the flow of liquid fuel around the slidable member 60 and into the body of the valve 22.

The improved process for forming a heated highly combustible gaseous fuel from a hydrocarbon oil and air is thus seen to be a result of gasifying the oil, preheating same, and while in this preheated gaseous state, combining it with the heated air under pressure without appreciably lowering the temperature of the mixture and further subjecting the oil during the gasifying process to a catalytic action which is effective to eliminate deposits of carbon residues in the compartmentsY 17 and 18. This process is easily and simply carried out by controlling the heating of the gasifying apparatus 11 and the valves 22,

29 and 37. The radiation heat losses may be greatly diminishedl by making the pipe 32 as short as possible and providing suitable heat insulating laggings or coverings 65, 66, and 67 over the exterior surface of the apparatus 11, pipe 32 and intake 10a, respectively. In Fig. 4 is shown an apparatus applied to a furnace wall W. Here, the nozzle 39 is replaced by a burner/ nozzle 139, the latter being mounted in position in any suitable manner by a frame 70, orices 70a. being provided in said frame 70 for admitting air from the outside. The air passing through said orifice may be regulated in any suitable manner for supplying any excess air that may be needed during the operation of the burner, as by means of aring or sleeve 71 having opening 71a which ring may be operated to close the orices 70a.

It will be noted that the hydrocarbon oil is merely vaporized and expanded but is not cracked or broken down, due to the temperature control preventing such reaction, the gasied oil being furthermore intimately mixed with the gaseous fuel constituent without application of additional heating, thus preventing reaction with the gaseous constituent.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:-

l. The art of preparing a gaseous highlycombustible fuel from liquid and gaseous fuel conthereto, preheating the gaseous constituent by applying a different source of heat, regulating the intensities of both sources of heat for controlling the gasification, catalytic activity, and the preheating of the gaseous constituent to bring said constituents to a desired condition, and injecting the preheated -constituent into the gasied constituent in proper proportion to form a gaseous, highly combustible product.

CHARLES Rosina.

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